Centrifugal casting machine



Sept. 18, 1945. ANDREWS 2,385,250

CENTRIFUGAL CASTING MACHINE m Filed Jan. 11, 1945 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 h. od g u.

HAROLD Aunruzws INVENTOR BYW ATTORNE Sept. 18, 1945. ANDREWS CENTRIFUGALCASTING MACHINE Filed Jan. 11, 1943 6 Sheets-Sheet .4

llbll OUDZFPZOU Wm W HAROLD ANmuws INVENTOR ATTORNEY Sept. 18, 1945. H.ANDREWS CENTRIFUGAL CASTING MACHINE.

Filed Jan. 11. 1943 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 HAROLD ANDREWS Armnugy Sept.'18,1945. H. ANDREWS 2,335,250

CENTRIFUGAL CASTING MACHINE Filed Jan. 11, 1943 4 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Ii II l INVENTOR f/fiwz 17 flA PKE ATTOR EY atented Sept. 18, 1945 UNITEDSTATES PATENT orrics CENTRIFUGAL CASTING MACHINE Harold Andrews,Halesowen, England 1, 1943, Serial N0. 472,025

Application anuary 1 In Great Britain August 1, 1941 2 Claims. (Cl.22-65) I invention relates to improvements in cenbeingconsiderable sincethe hand-wheels must be mifugal casting machines of the type in whichcylindrical articles, such as cylinder liner castlngs or piston-ringpots. are cast centrifugally in a mould rotating about a horizontalaxis.

In one design of machine of this type described in U. S. patentspecification mould assembly is carried by a face-plate mounted on theforward end of a hollow shaft which is rotatably mounted in spacedbearings and is driven by a motor or other source of power to rotate themould about its axis during the casting operation. Concentric sleeves ora concentric sleeve or sleeves and a central rod extend axially throughthe shaft and are axially movable by screwand-nut mechanism at theirrear ends to actuate an ejector for ejecting the finished casting and anend ring which is held against the outer end of the mould during thecasting operation and is displaced while the casting is being N0.2,023,562, the

withdrawn. The screw-and-nut mechanism comprises internally screwedrotatably anchored threads on the axially movable sleeves or sleeve androd and are fitted with hand-wheels by which they can be manuallyrotated. Where a split mould is used the mechanism which operates theend ring may also serve to open and close the mould.

One object of my invention is to provide an improved centrifugal castingmachine of this kind which has a number of advantages in use and inwhich the amount of time and labour required between casting operationsis substantially reduced.

According to my invention in a centrifugal castdescribed above theactuating mechanism for the end ring and ejector, and also for openingand closing the mould if necessary, which is located at the rear of themould is geared or coupled to operating or control means located at oneside of and adjacent to the front Thus when a casting operation has beencompleted the operator instead of having to go round to the back of themachine to manipulate the hand-wheels for displacing the end ring andadvancing the ejector can effect these operations and also the return ofthe end plate and ejector from the front of the machine without movingappreciably from the position he normally occupies during the castingoperation and there is a considerable saving in time.

Another advantage is that the hand-wheels do not rotate with the mouldassembly so that their inertia does not have to be considered, thisinertia of considerable diameter to give the necessary leverage,particularly for the operation of the elector.

One preferred practical design of centrifugal casting machine embodyingmy invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanyingdrawings in which:

Figure 1 is a plan of tion.

Figure 2 is a side elevation partly in section. Figure 3 is a sideelevation of the front part of the mechanism for raising and loweringthe end the machine partly in secring.

Figure 4 is an end elevation of the control mechanism.

. Figure 5-is anism side elevation of the control mechre 6 is a top planview of the machine.

The machine itself need only be described briefly as it is similar ingeneral construction to that described in U. S. patent speciflcation'No.2,023,562, referred to above.

A hollow main shaft Ill rotatable about a horizontal axis is mounted inheavy spaced roller journal bearings ii and is adapted to be driven byan electric motor through a belt running over a pulley It on the shaft.A face-plate I! on the forward end of the shaft has secured to it anumber of forwardly projecting arms ll forming a carrier adapted tocarry a readily interchangeable mould indicated in dotted lines at ll.

During the casting operation the front end of the mould is partiallyclosed by an end ring I! carried by a air of arms ll pivoted at theirrear ends by pins ll on slides II.

The rear end of each slide enters a spring box 20 on a cross-head i2 anda compression spring 22 is arranged between the front end of the box anda collar 23 on the rear end of the slide. This arrangement allows theend ring to yield under axial expansion of the mould. The cross-head 2|is secured to the front end of a tubular sleeve 24 which extends axiallythrough the shaft II and is axially movable therein to draw the endplate against and move it away from the front end of the mould. In theoperative position of the end ring shown in dotted lines is in axialalignment with and is held against the end of the mould and is ositivelylocated by the engagement of bushed holes 25 with the reduced ends it ofrods 21 extending forwardly from the face plate l3. when the casting isfinished the cross-head 2| is advanced by axial movement of the sleeve21 which disinl igurelthering' in the end ring engages brackets 28 onthe arms I! from slides 29 carried by the face-plate. The end-ring canthen swing down into the position shown in full lines in Figure 2 inwhich it is clear of the end of the mould so that the casting can bewithdrawn. The end ring when released from the mould is adapted to besupported and moved up into the operative position again by a yokeformed by a cross-member 30 and a pair of arms 3| pivoted on brackets 32extending forwardly from the frame of the machine. This yoke is movedangularly by a link 33 pivotally connected to'the centre of the yoke andto a longitudinally movable rod 34 below and parallel to the main shaft.

Ejection of the casting is effected by an ejector 35 on the forward endof a plunger coaxial with and axially movable in the sleeve 24.

A collar on the rear end of the sleeve 24 is rdtatably anchored by meansof a bearing 31 in a transverse crosshead 38 which is held againstangular movement.by means of a lugon the crosshead engaging slidablywith a fixed rod 39. Internally screw-threaded nut members 40 secured inthe orosshead adjacent each end engage with parallel screw-threadedspindles H which ar geared together by a chain connecting the sprockets42. Thus rotation of the spindles 4| moves the cross-head and the sleeve24 axially to draw the end plate against or move it away from the end ofthe mould.

The rear end of the plunger 36 which extends beyond that of the sleeveis similarly rotatably anchored by means of a bearingv 43 in a crosshead44. The bearing is mounted on a short collar or sleeve 45 which has alimited sliding movement on the plunger against the action of a spring48 to allow for expansion.

Nut members 47 anchored in the ends of the crosshead engage withparallel screwed spindles 48 which are geared together by a chainconnecting sprockets 49 so that rotation of the spindles 48 moves thecrosshead and the plunger 36 to advance and retract the ejector.

The sprockets 42 on the spindle 4! are coupled by a chain to a sprocketii on the rear end of a shaft 62 rotatably mounted in a control frame 53arranged at one side of the machine. The front end of the shaft which isadjacent the front of the machine as shown in Fig. 6, is fitted with ahand-wheel 4 for rotating the shaft to rotate the spindles and soactuate the end ring.

The sprockets 49 on the spindles 48 are coupled by a chain to a sprocket55 on the rear end of a parallel shaft 56. At its front end theshaft 56carries a pinion 51 meshing with a gear-wheel 58 on a sleeve concentricwith the shaft 52 and this sleeve is fitted with a handwheel or capstan59 for rotating the shaft 56 to rotate the spindles 48 and so advanceand retract the ejector.

The control frame also provides a mounting for a switch 60 for the motor6| driving the main shaft l0 and a brake lever 62 actuating a brake 63for bringing the main shaft to rest after a casting operation. A cammember 64 associated with the brake lever actuates a switch 65 in themain motor circuit to prevent the motor from being energised when thebrake is on. v

A further switch 66 in the main motor circuit is mounted on the frame ofthe machine and is controlled by a collar 61 on the sleeve 24 to preventthe motor from being energised until the end ring has been drawn backagainst the end of the mould. A still further switch 58 may becontrolled by a collar on the rod 35 to prevent anism for actuating theejector should be manuaily operable as shownin the drawings asconsiderable force may be necessary to initiate the movement of thecasting from the mould and this force can be applied through the capstanhand-wheel 69. However, the movement of the end ring does not requireexcessive force at any time and instead of operating this manually itmay be operated by an auxiliary motor coupled by chain or other gearingto the screwed spindies 48 or to the spindle 56, the motor beingcontrolled by a main switch adjacent the handwheel 59 and by limitswitches actuated by c0llars on the sleeve 24 to stop it when the endring has reached its two limiting positions. These collars would ofcourse be adjustable to allow for moulds of different lengths.

I claim:

l. A centrifugal casting machine comprising a hollow rotatable mainshaft, a mould carrier mounted on the front end of the shaft, an axiallymovable end ring for closingthe front end i of the mould during casting,an axially movable ejectorfor ejecting the finished casting, membersaxially movable within the shaft for actuating the end ring and ejectorand projecting from the rear end of the shaft, collars on said movablemembers, crossheads engaging said collars, nuts anchored in thecrossheads, rotatable screwed shafts parallel to the main shaft andworking through the nuts, rotatable spindles parallel to the screwedshafts, gearing connecting the spindles to the screwed shafts, and meansat the front ends of the spindles for rotating them.

2. A centrifugal casting machine comprising a hollow rotatable mainshaft, a motor drivably connected to said shaft, a brake for said shaft,a mould carrier mounted on the front end of the shaft, an and ring forclosing the front end of the mould during casting and axially movablemembers axially, rotatable spindles at one side of and parallel to themain shafts, gearing connecting said spindles to the screw-and-nutmechanisms, handwheels on the front ends of said spindles, means mountedadjacent said handwheels for respectively operating said brake andcontrolling said motor, and means included in the circuit of saidmotor'and actuated by the brake control and by the axiallymovable'memher which advances and retracts the end ring for preventingenergization of the motor unless the brake is off and the end ring is inposition against the end of the mould.

HAROLD ANDREWS.

